The Weight of Unexpected Favor
“You might get dragged into it?”
Su Hwa-seon trailed off after saying that much, and Su Gyeong-tak took up the next words.
“Exactly as it sounds. They’re still keeping it quiet for now, but Eunhyeon’s existence will soon spread through the Heavenly Martial Alliance and the Demonic Cult. Since you’ve directly faced the Twin Immortals of Sword and Blade and the Heavenly Age Demonic Demon, it’s only a matter of time. What worries me, though……”
Su Gyeong-tak cut himself off and closed his eyes for a moment. He seemed to ponder something before continuing.
“It’s that those two appear to want more than mere goodwill toward you—they seem eager to pull you in.”
“That can’t happen!”
Su Hwa-seon, who had been listening with an anxious face the whole time, raised her voice. Silence hung over the place for a moment as a result.
“Yes. As you say, Hwa-seon, that must not come to pass. Right now the relationship between the righteous and demonic paths is at its worst. There’s no need at all to take one side and get involved.”
At Su Gyeong-tak’s words, Su Hwa-seon furrowed her brows and let out a deep sigh. Su Gyeong-tak continued as if in agreement.
“If it ever comes out that Eunhyeon has the support of the Twin Immortals of Sword and Blade and the Demonic Cult, they will do whatever it takes to eliminate him. They don’t like that kind of uncertainty to begin with.”
At those words, Su Hwa-seon glanced at Yoo Eunhyeon for a moment. Then she lightly embraced the silent young man who had only been listening and quietly opened her mouth.
“Receiving goodwill from both sides is something to be proud of, but…… in the eyes of those on either side, you’re nothing more than an unreliable ally who might lean one way or the other, or even an enemy. You’ve ended up on a difficult path.”
“Yes. The Heavenly Age Demonic Demon never goes back on his word. He will never withdraw the favor he has shown Eunhyeon. The Twin Immortals of Sword and Blade are a bit more flexible, but…… he is not one to ever forsake a debt of gratitude either.”
“What worries me most is that because they know that well, they might want to pull Eunhyeon in even more……”
Until just before coming here, Yoo Eunhyeon had had no particular worries on that front. He had simply been thinking that since he had met Su Hwa-seon, he could now return home and figure out how to restore the fields as quickly as possible. And just as his father and grandfather had done in the past, he already had a complete design in his head for making the fields more efficient with this opportunity. But listening to the two of them talk, he suddenly felt a chill of fear.
“Then what should I do?”
“I told you, didn’t I? First, you need to grow stronger. Now that you’ve already drawn attention, if you’re weak you’ll just be tossed around this way and that. Only by becoming strong yourself will you be able to do what you can.”
“Hwa-seon is right. And with Mahon Cheongong and Mudong Hwanmu on top of that. In a way, isn’t it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? Train hard at them. Of course, we won’t spare any support either.”
“Will Father teach me personally?”
“I’d like to, but thanks to this we’ve suddenly got a lot of preparations to make ourselves. I’ll give you advice from time to time, so wouldn’t it be better for you to do it yourself?”
“But for teaching Eoheolsangong……”
Su Hwa-seon muttered hesitantly, and Yoo Eunhyeon’s ears perked up at her words.
“Eoheolsangong? What’s that? Is it the name of the martial art Mother practiced?”
“It’s our family’s hereditary martial art. How about it? Do you feel like learning it?”
“Father!”
Su Hwa-seon shouted again at Su Gyeong-tak’s suggestive words.
“I have my reasons for saying this. Mahon Cheongong is a peerless internal energy method. It should be able to ignore even the side effects of our family’s Eoheolsangong.”
Su Gyeong-tak shrugged his shoulders at Su Hwa-seon as he spoke.
“There is no martial art that Mahon Cheongong cannot devour. It is something that can be dyed in the color of any martial art.”
“Then we should at least test whether it works or not. You’re going to make a child who hasn’t even properly learned martial arts take the test?”
“There are many in the family who have learned Eoheolsangong, but Eunhyeon is the only one who has learned Mahon Cheongong.”
Su Gyeong-tak spoke firmly, but Su Hwa-seon raised her voice even more.
“Then have someone else learn Mahon Cheongong and test it that way.”
“Tsk. As expected, once you become a parent your judgment clouds. Eunhyeon didn’t learn Mahon Cheongong from a secret manual—he received it through direct transmission. Do you think the Heavenly Age Demonic Demon wouldn’t know that much? Even if someone else operates their internal energy exactly as Eunhyeon learned it, it won’t become Mahon Cheongong. At best, they’ll be lucky to avoid qi deviation.”
At that, the heated Su Hwa-seon closed her mouth. She herself knew the things Su Gyeong-tak had said.
“Of course, the decision is Eunhyeon’s to make. I only informed you that such an option exists. As you say, I have no intention of forcing it when there’s even the slightest chance my grandson could go wrong. Our family doesn’t only have Eoheolsangong—there are other martial arts as well, so he can learn those.”
“Whew. All right. I think I got a bit too heated myself. First we need to explain it to Eunhyeon.”
And Yoo Eunhyeon, who had been listening up to that point, carefully spoke up.
“No. If it’s that dangerous, I don’t have to learn it. I don’t even need to know.”
“No. Your grandfather’s words are right too. And there’s also the reason why this mother of yours was unwell and had to live in the mountains…… so listen.”
At those words, Yoo Eunhyeon pricked up his ears. Su Hwa-seon’s physical condition and past story were things Yoo Eunhyeon had always been curious about.
“I’ll have to step out for a bit. I’d like to dote on my grandson a little more, but this position of family head is so busy…… Sigh. I was thinking of passing the seat to Gang next year and living leisurely, but the way the martial world is going won’t let me.”
“I’m sorry. Because of me……”
Yoo Eunhyeon hung his head dejectedly for no reason. Su Gyeong-tak smiled faintly and ruffled Yoo Eunhyeon’s hair a bit roughly.
“It’s not your fault. Looking at the situation between the righteous and demonic paths, it was something that would have happened someday. It’s just been brought forward a little. Rather, it’s a good thing that I don’t have to dump a heavy burden on my children and grandchildren.”
Su Gyeong-tak said that and left, but Yoo Eunhyeon’s heart did not feel much lighter. Until now he hadn’t thought much of it, but listening to the conversation like this, he felt he understood what results the words he had spoken without thinking had brought about. Of course they were things he had done unintentionally, but if as a result the martial world fell into this kind of chaos, it was a different story.
And as if sensing that Yoo Eunhyeon had fallen into dejection, Su Hwa-seon lightly patted his back warmly in comfort.
“You little rascal. Looking at you, you’re worrying, aren’t you?”
“Yes……”
“You’re bold when it comes to farm work, but you fretting needlessly over worldly affairs. Don’t worry about it so much. What’s our family motto? Don’t cling to what’s past—look to the future.”
“Since when has that been the family motto……”
Saying so, Yoo Eunhyeon let out a short laugh. Thinking about it carefully, she was right. Moreover, weren’t those the words Yoo Eunhyeon himself had said to others like Sa Yeo-un and Son Jin-won along the way? And he must have resolved it when the fields on Mount Taesan were devastated, yet he kept forgetting.
“Tsk tsk. With your father gone too, isn’t this mother the head of the Yoo family? I can make or revise the family motto as I please. If you feel wronged, get married quickly. Once you marry and continue the line, I’ll pass on the headship.”
“You go ahead and enjoy it to your heart’s content, Mother. Why the rush when I’ll become the head when I get older anyway.”
“What? You little brat. Are you wishing for this mother to die soon right now?”
“Don’t talk nonsense! There are things you can say and things you can’t. When someone who’s always been sick says something like that, it gives me a start!”
When Yoo Eunhyeon raised his voice sharply, Su Hwa-seon stroked his head with a kind smile as if finding him admirable.
“I told you that being sick is fine. Ah, while we’re at it, I’ll explain that too. Father’s gone out, and it’s a bit awkward staying here…… let’s go back to my room.”
So the two returned to Su Hwa-seon’s room, and Su Hwa-seon’s story began.
“Let’s see……. Actually, it was a story I was going to tell you someday, but I was wondering how to explain things about martial arts or the martial world, and it’s fortunate that there’s no need to explain that part.”
“Right. If not for that, I might never have heard it in my lifetime.”
“Ahem…… Would that be the case? I would have told you before I died.”
When Yoo Eunhyeon glared and made a pointed remark, Su Hwa-seon turned her head as if stung and changed the subject as she spoke again.
“This mother’s chronic illness comes from the Eoheolsangong I mentioned just now. Eoheolsangong is the hereditary martial art of our Uiseon Suga. It’s not difficult to learn and has great power, but it has one drawback.”
“What drawback?”
“As the name suggests, Eoheolsangong is a martial art that uses blood, so it has a rather bad effect on the blood. That’s why you have to periodically take medicine to improve that condition.”
Yoo Eunhyeon recalled the medicine Su Hwa-seon used to take and asked as if puzzled.
“Was that the medicine? No, something so important……. You don’t die if you don’t take it?”
“It just means you can’t engage in strenuous activity. And it’s not good for the body either.”
“You’ve lived your whole life like that?”
“When I was young, martial arts were everything. And since the whole family was the same, I didn’t think much of it.”
“Even so……”
“Everything we enjoy now comes from that power. You can’t just act spoiled, can you?”
The way Su Hwa-seon said that with a smile was a side Yoo Eunhyeon had never seen before—the look of a blood relative of the great Uiseon Suga family.
“But then…… how did Father meet you and end up living in the mountains, leaving such a great family behind?”
“You could call that the recklessness of youth as well. When you’re in love, anything is possible, isn’t it?”
“Even so, falling in love with a farmer you suddenly met in the mountains? I knew you came for recuperation, but even meeting like that is amazing.”
“That’s just how life is. Did you ever think you’d live your whole life in the mountains and end up meeting the daughter of the Heavenly Age Demonic Demon?”
“Well, that……”
Honestly, until last year he couldn’t have imagined it at all.
“I was about sixteen, I think? Until then I had no interest in anything but practicing martial arts, so I trained hard and ended up falling into qi deviation. Fortunately, due to the nature of Eoheolsangong I had strong resistance to qi deviation, so I didn’t lose my martial arts or get injured, but the bad effects I mentioned earlier worsened.”
“How so?”
“Originally you only need to take the medicine about twice a year, but for me alone it became once a month.”
“Ah…… so that’s why……”
“Even after that my condition wasn’t good, so your maternal grandfather and I searched for places with good vital energy and found Mount Taesan. While recuperating there my condition improved a lot, and then I met your father, and after that, well……. Hoho.”
Seeing Su Hwa-seon blush and turn her head, Yoo Eunhyeon furrowed his brows a bit, but he roughly understood the situation. Indeed, Yoo Eunhyeon’s original home was the optimal place for recuperation. A place recognized by two of the greatest masters under heaven, so it was certainly guaranteed.
“I understand…… With a reason like that, even Grandfather couldn’t help it.”
At Yoo Eunhyeon’s words, Su Hwa-seon let out a short laugh.
“So you’re fine now? You don’t need to go home and recuperate?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Coming back home after so long, my body definitely feels lighter.”
When Su Hwa-seon said she was fine, Yoo Eunhyeon finally let out a breath of relief. But only for a moment; he soon opened his mouth again.
“But why didn’t you come back quickly after coming here? You could have just gotten the medicine and returned. You made me worry for nothing.”
“I’m still sorry about that part.”
Su Hwa-seon muttered in a bitter voice. Suddenly she hugged Yoo Eunhyeon tightly as she spoke.
“Besides Eoheolsangong, our family has other martial arts without side effects, so I was thinking of bringing some of those. I wanted to give you at least the power to protect yourself minimally…… I never thought it would drag on and end up like this.”
“Is that all? If it’s something like that, then now……”
Yoo Eunhyeon brightened his face as if that much was fine, but Su Hwa-seon lightly furrowed her brows as if it was still too early to feel relieved and said,
“……There was another reason as well. There was a bit of a problem related to an important medicine.”